"You can't help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn't spell it right; but spelling isn't everything. There are days when spelling Tuesday simply doesn't count." -Pooh

A day in the life of a Munchkin:

Naps after breakfast and elevensies. Gotta make sure those fingers stay in there.

Lunch date with Gramma & Grandpa, its too bad this doesn't count as babysitting.

Baby push-ups

A little conversation time.

My movie star.

An acute observer may note that Munchkin is in 3, count 'em, 3 different outfits. And they would be wrong to thing that those were our only wardrobe changes for the day. Good thing its laundry day!

90 Day Trial Period and Some Shaking

Dr. Grandpa says that parents have to give their new babies a 90day trial before they decide whether or not to keep them. Mostly because it makes them laugh, but also because it's about the time that they stop being quite so draining and a little more interesting. Well, Munchkin is officially past her 90 day trial period and tomorrow is her 3month birthday. Mister and I have come to the conclusion that we should keep the Munchkin. She's starting to be really interactive which is a good and bad thing (means she requires more attention, but is way more fun). No pedi visit this month so official stats will have to wait. I did get on the scale with her and she's at least over 12lbs. I can feel myself starting to come back to earth a little, but not quite there yet. I think I'm still working in survival mode and don't have much room for anything else. I noticed that some of my emotions came back after getting an all clear from Dr. Uta; before that I wasn't really able to feel much about anything. The girls at school kept saying that my summer must have been SO EXCITING! And I mean, yeah I had some MAJOR life changes, but it's hard to describe how boring and intense and all-consuming and fun and tedious and rewarding... ugh it hurts my head. Anyway, I'm tired and I'm glad that we are past the first 3 hard months and I'm excited to see what comes next.

We also had another first today, AN EARTHQUAKE!!! WHAT?!  I was in class when we experienced a 5.9 earthquake. Munchkin was at Michelle's and I wasn't able to get ahold of them. The actual earthquake was crazy, it felt like there was a helicopter right on top of us. Then I was fine until we got back to the house where my car was an they said that the epicenter was 10miles from our house and Munchkin. Then I started to panic a little. It turns out they were fine, Munchkin slept through the whole thing. Michelle was a little shaken, but she was about to be reunited with her babies as well. We had a few small aftershocks and then tonight we had a 4.2 aftershock that shook the house quite a bit. Munchkin was screaming at the top of her lungs and I heard it start to rumble. I grabbed Dash and called Dixie and we found a doorway to stand in until it stopped shaking. Mister is still out of town and he was pretty freaked out about not being with us, but we are good! Now to take on Hurricane Irene that's coming this weekend!

Think, think, think.

Today was Munchkin's first day of "School"!!

Of course, we had to dress up for the occasion, and Mrs. Michelle only laughed a little when I asked if I could be completely ridiculous and take their picture. This is Munchkin's new friend who she is in love with! Every time she comes up and talks to her Munchkin get a huge smile on her face. Everything went swimmingly, of course, and she wasn't a terror, and she slept and ate well, and everyone was happy when I picked her up! I'm still holding my breath a little for tomorrow when she goes for a longer day, but we are past our first day. I think I shall take a nap.

Munchkin also got to meet my classmates Jillian and Katie today (we didn't get a picture with Katie because Munchkin fell asleep in the swing for most of her visit). 

Note to Self

I stumbled upon this after catching up on one of our other favorite little girls, Little Miss Fritts. She pointed me towards an article in the Huffinton Post by Lisa Bloom, How to Talk to Little Girls and it was... convicting is not the word, but somewhere between noteworthy and convicting. Munchkin doesn't understand what I'm saying to her yet, she is just learning to discern the purpose of my attention to her. Am I frustrated or tired, am I fully engaged in what she is "saying" to me, am I showing her something new or forcing her to do things she doesn't want to do (like roll over)? Anyway, I want to store this thought for later and remember just how powerful my words are to her. I think that I should comment on how she looks, but I want it to be directed at how beautiful God has made her, and how special she is before the things she puts on. I also want to remember to show her how much I value her brain; she is already so smart and alert- taking in everything around her. She may not be able to do baby-push-ups yet, but she can look at a book and try to touch the pictures. She responds vocally when you talk to her using her sounds, she lets us know very clearly her preferences, and she understands and anticipates a lot of her routines. My Munchkin is a genius- and a pretty one too!

"Some people talk to animals. Not many listen though. That's the problem."

Just us girls here. We dropped Mister off at the airport this morning for a long trip. Here's hoping we have a smooth week and a half together! Got some pictures after her nap upon return from the airport.

Hey Dash, what's happening?

 Silly Mommy! 

 Pretty girl without the double chin. 

 Gotcha Dixie!

 Those little fingers have figured out how to weave their way into puppy fur and latch on. It's not very thick so they can still pull away fairly easily, but they always get up and kind of stop for a second before they gently ease her off.

 Kick the Dash!

Sweetness. 

"Hallo, Rabbit,” he said, “is that you?” "Let’s pretend it isn’t,” said Rabbit, “and see what happens."

Today's quote has nothing to do with our post, I just found it and thought it was funny.

This is the other new thing that has surfaced since our return from Canada: Munchkin found her fingers. They are fairly effective for short term soothing, but it takes multiple fingers to really do the trick and she is crazy noisy when she sucks on them. She also gets all slobbery when she does it, which wakes her up as well. She's pretty cute though. We'll see if she gets better at it and prefers them to the pacifier. I can't decide which to encourage, and I think the answer is neither, or both, and let her tell me because its how it's going to happen anyway.

 Hmm maybe two fingers taste better

 The pacifier is still the most effective for long term soothing, but her tongue thrust reflex still kicks it out pretty frequently. She has discovered how to hold it in with a hand or arm, but mostly just happens upon that, she can't do it on purpose. 

"People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day."

And we're back! Several big things have happened since we returned from Canada. We have transitioned Munchkin to her crib with a 90% success rate. She spends every night in there and, depending on how sleepy she is, most naps. 

Contrary to the outfit from Anthill, she is also sleeping through the night. I get at least 6hours, sometimes 8 between feedings. Please take note that I said feedings, not that I get that much sleep. If I can time it right, then she will eat at 11 or 12 and I can get in bed immediately and wake her up at 6:30 when Mister leaves. Thankfully, I don't have many other obligations so we usually go back to sleep after that morning feeding. 

We also tried the Bumbo chair for the first time. I thought she would need more trunk control, but she's pretty awesome at holding her head up and the back is higher than I thought it was. She rather enjoyed sitting up and looking around, so now we have another place to sit. 

We also like reading stories now. It's easiest done with both of us laying on the bed looking up at the pictures. Munchkin pays attention to the pictures and sometimes talks to them. We made cow sounds at our farm book yesterday (ooooo). 

Sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of.

Our little cupcake

Annnnd we're done...

Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.

After the wedding Mister, Grandpa, and the other boys left for a fishing trip on the French River. 

They left us girls back for some serious relaxing. Anthill helped me rig up Mister's tarp so that we could have shade for Munchkin to do some swimming. 

Then we had to have a bath to wash off the chlorine.

We've been practicing some tummy time and rolling over. Munchkin is NOT interested so we have to make a big deal out of it. 

Munchkin helped Gramma knit and in return got kisses passed on from Nana and fun dancing time.

Then there was a campfire and s'mores. Munchkin reached up and grabbed a big handful of marshmallow before I could catch her, but she was mesmerized by the fire.

Munchkin also got some snuggles from Aunt Val and had a playdate with her Grandbaby Saetia.

Just a little more playtime with Gramma and Grandpa before we left.